


Hopeless Case

by FlyUsOutOfHere



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Bad Parents Maggie Tozier & Wentworth Tozier, Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier Are Best Friends, Child Neglect, Eventual Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, M/M, Richie Tozier is a Mess, The Losers Club (IT) Love Each Other, kinda angsty eventually, reckless richie tozier, richie tozier doesn't care about his own life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:06:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22809859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlyUsOutOfHere/pseuds/FlyUsOutOfHere
Summary: Eddie is fed up with Richie's bullshit and Richie just doesn't understand why it's a problem.orEddie wants Richie to care about his own wellbeing and stop being stupid and Richie's like "ok.but why?????"
Relationships: Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, The Losers Club & Richie Tozier
Comments: 3
Kudos: 61





	1. So Stupid

**Author's Note:**

> I don't really know what this is but I was inspired so here you go. I doubt anybody will read this but like if I have even only one reader who enjoys it I will try my best to update and not fail to badly. Kudos really make my day, so if you enjoy it,,,,please. Any ideas/suggestions/construction criticism? Leave in comments pls! also I don't know how many chapters this is going to be but I'll keep writing if I have people who are reading.

Richie Tozier had never been good at making decisions. Maybe his brain never developed common sense or a risk factor, because Richie had gotten himself into countless situations that were not only stupid but oftentimes dangerous. When he was younger, it wasn’t as big of a deal; he’d try to do a cool new trick on his bike or see how many pieces of bubble gum he could shove into his mouth before he puked. Those always resulted in minor injuries. Nothing that couldn’t be fixed up by good old Doctor K. But as Richie got older, his reckless decisions became more and more reckless. Such as the time when he tried to figure out how many days he could go without sleep before he passed out (he lasted just over one week) or when he was dared to chug a whole bottle of beer.

Out of the Losers Club, Beverly definitely supported Richie’s reckless decisions, as she was a risk-taker herself, and Eddie was certainly the one who looked down on Richie’s choices the most. He just couldn’t fathom why Richie would choose to be so _stupid_.

So when Richie accepted _yet another_ dare to do _yet another_ dumb thing, Eddie was done with his bullshit.

“Come on, Eds! It’s not a big deal!” Richie said in a loud voice, walking quickly beside his friend. “Shut up, Richie! And yes it is, you’re fucking stupid!” Eddie said, finally slowing his pace. Although Eddie was undeniably the smaller of the two of them, he was capable of a lot of anger, and when he was mad, it was like his whole body suddenly sprung up ten feet; like he had both the height, speed, and strength of an incredibly tall person.

“Eds-” Richie began, before heavily sighing and shrugging his bony shoulders.

“You’re going to kill yourself, you know. If you keep being so fucking ignorant,” Eddie said, still mad, but no longer royally pissed off. Richie just shrugged again, taking a cigarette out of his hoodie pocket and absentmindedly lighting it. “And those fucking cancer sticks! Jesus Christ, Tozier!” Eddie said, his already high voice getting higher. Richie stared at Eddie, his eyes wide as they both stared at the lighter still in Richie’s pale hands. Richie looked guilty, like he’d been caught stealing. Richie silently put out the cigarette, not looking anywhere in Eddie’s direction.

“Just go back to Bev, keep being a dumbass, I don’t care,” Eddie said after a few moments of quiet.

“Okay,” Richie said, starting to turn away from Eddie to begin to walk back towards the area that their friends were.

“Do you even care? That one day you’re gonna smoke one cigarette too much, or drink one beer too much, or that one day, you’re gonna jump off one of those stupid fucking cliffs and crack your thick head open and fucking die?” Eddie said before Richie had the chance to leave.

“Can’t say I do, good sir,” Richie said, suddenly putting on some shitty British accent. Eddie sighed, knowing that stupid fucking Richie Tozier would never care enough to stay safe and alive.

“See ya, Eds,” Richie said, finally leaving Eddie alone on the sidewalk. He pulled out another cigarette and inhaled the thick nicotine-filled smoke and Eddie knew it was a hopeless case.


	2. It's Okay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave any comments/suggestions/constructive criticism in the comments!

“I just don’t get why he’s like, so pissed, you know?” Richie said, taking another hit off of his joint and then passing it to his left, where Beverly was laying. Both her and Richie were in Richie’s small room, and both of them were high out of their mind,

“You said a naughty word!” Bev said in a childish voice, passing the joint back to Richie and then dissolving in hysterical giggles. Richie couldn’t help but join her; he didn’t know what was funny, but just seeing Bev absolutely lose it was enough to make Richie laugh. They laughed at everything and nothing, both of them staring at the ceiling fan that was rapidly spinning above them.

“So how’re you and Bill?” Richie said, his voice muffled by the carpet as he rolled over onto his stomach.

“Big Bill? Oh, we’re, you know,” Bev said, a hint of a smile still on her lips.

“Actually, Bev-Bev, I don’t know, that’s why I asked,” Richie said, letting out a short giggle and then a loud cough. The coughs kept coming, to the point where Richie needed to chug a lukewarm bottle of water just to make it stop.

“You okay?” Bev asked in a somber tone, her random bouts of laughter gone.

“Fine, Bev,” Richie said, motioning for Bev to hand him the joint. She hesitated for a moment, before handing it over with a shrug.

“You die from this, I die from this, okay?” Bev said, shooting a smile at Richie. He nodded, cuddling closer into the shag carpet that had definitely seen better days.

Richie woke up a few hours later, still on the floor. He checked his alarm clock for the time: 2 AM. Bev must’ve left a while ago.

Richie sighed, glancing around the dark room. He felt antsy and he didn’t know why; all he knew was that he needed to get out of there. He opened his window and hopped out, feeling thankful that his house was only one story tall. He pulled out another cigarette and smoked it while slowly walking around, not taking in his surroundings. He felt dazed, like he didn’t know where he was or who he was. Which wasn’t far from the truth, if Richie was being honest. For someone who talks so much, someone who literally has a whole legacy based on never shutting up, Richie sure never  _ said  _ anything. Yeah, he’d make stupid jokes and do stupid accents, which were sometimes funny and sometimes not. But whenever he was actually questioned about anything below the surface, his voice was gone and all he had were sighs and shrugs. 

It’s okay, though. Did he really need to talk? It’s not like Richie had some great trauma, like Bev with her dad, or Bill with his brother, or even Eddie with his mom. No, Richie’s life wasn’t like that. His home life wasn’t like that. But he also didn’t have a loving mother, like Ben, or a strict father figure, like Stan and Mike. Richie just had...parents. Just two people who he shared a house with and who he shared blood with. Nothing more. Nothing less. Richie hated to admit it, but he missed his parents. Back when he was younger, before his father started to cheat and his mom started to drink, things had been good. The Tozier household was picture-perfect in all aspects. But then it turned to shit.

Richie glanced up, noticing that while he was thinking, he had continued to walk without really ever noticing he was moving at all. He was now in front of the one and only Edward Kaspbrak’s house. Richie put out his cigarette and began the lengthy descent from the ground to Eddie’s second-floor window. When he finally got level with Eddie’s window, he knocked and knocked, the tapping repeating in Richie’s head like a song. Finally, and what felt like an eternity later, Eddie opened the window.

“What the fuck are you doing here, shithead!” Eddie whisper-yelled, a scowl on his perfect face.

“Hiya, Eds, milady, or me sir? It’s awfully cold out here,” Richie said in another indistinguishable accent. Eddie rolled his eyes and groaned, but let his pity get the better off him as he pulled the lanky boy into his room. They both fell onto the ground; luckily, it wasn’t too loud due to Eddie’s excessively cushioned carpet (“Mom, does my carpet really need to be  _ this  _ thick?” “Eddiekins, it’s for your safety! What if you fell? I don’t want you getting hurt!”) They both lay on the ground for a moment, trying, and failing, to stifle their laughter. 

“Ok, but why are you here, Trashmouth?” Eddie said as he sat up. Richie shrugged.

“I don’t know. I was bored. Thought I’d come by here to say hello to your mom, but I guess you’ll do,” Richie said, laughing as Eddie elbowed him. 

“Yeah, yeah, okay, dickwad. But it’s two in the fucking morning! Regular people sleep, you know,” Eddie said.

“Sleep is for the weak,” Richie said with a small smirk. 

“Actually, if you don’t sleep, you can literally die of exhaustion,” Eddie said, his medical knowledge automatically rushing out of his mouth. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Richie said, still smirking. Eddie then got up and got back into bed, beckoning Richie to follow him. Richie was reluctant at first, but then thought ‘fuck it’ and climbed into bed beside his Eds. They both fell asleep soon after, their hands intertwined, a smirk still resting on Richie’s face and an anxious crease imprinted between Eddie’s eyebrows.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry it's been a very long time i cant promise that there will be another update soon after this im just on a roll today. my writing style has kinda changed in the past few months so im sorry if the difference in style is too noticeable. thanks for reading!

To say Eddie is an angry person is an understatement. To put it more accurately, he’s like a constantly boiling vessel of rage. He is very passionate about things he cares about, passionate enough to actually, physically  _ fight  _ someone if they disagree with him. Some may say it’s annoying, others may say it’s entertaining, but overall, it’s what makes up Eddie. So when Richie shows up at his window at 1 in the morning, blood mixing with the tears and rain on his face, Eddie is mad. He’s mad that Richie walked to his house without a fucking jacket, and he’s mad that Richie won’t be serious, and he’s mad that Richie’s hurt, because that means someone hurt Richie, and  _ nobody _ hurts Richie, not if Eddie can stop it. But after seeing the look on Richie’s face as Eddie opens his mouth to berate him, Eddie can’t help but feel bad. 

“Come on, dude, let’s clean you up,” Eddie said, ushering Richie through the window, careful not to wake his mom. Richie looks at him and nods, but doesn’t say anything. Eddie silently leads Richie into his connected bathroom and grabs a first aid kit, taking out a few bandages and a bottle of peroxide. Eddie sees a gash on his forehead, but that seems to be the only wound.

“This is gonna sting, Rich,” Eddie whispered as he gently swiped the peroxide soaked cloth over the cut. Richie still hasn’t said anything. It’s quiet, almost peaceful, with the only sound being Eddie opening various wrappers of various different things. 

“What happened?” Eddie finally asked, once Richie had been successfully bandaged. They were back in Eddie’s room now, and the silence was almost suffocating.

“Oh, you know, me and Mrs. K got too rough in -” Richie said, the corner of his mouth turning up into his resident Trashmouth grin.

“Shut the fuck up about my mom and tell me what really happened, dickhead,” Eddie said quickly, with no bite to his seemingly aggressive words. 

“Nothing, Eds,” Richie said, shrugging his shoulders. Eddie just stared at him, and Richie stared right back, his dark brown eyes slightly magnified by his cracked glasses. 

“Alright, Eds, I should get going, don’t want to leave your mom all by herself,” Richie said after a moment. He stood up, his legs shaking, and grabbed his jacket.

“Sit down, fuckface, you’re staying here,” Eddie said confidently, while rolling his eyes at Richie’s comment. 

“As you wish, m’lady,” Richie said as he ungraciously threw himself on Eddie’s bed, landing on his back.

“You’re stupid,” Eddie said with a small smile as he laid down beside his best friend. 

“Maybe so, but you love it,” Richie said with a smirk, and Eddie was too tired or maybe too in awe at the beautiful boy beside him to deny it. Yeah, Eddie loved him, so what? It doesn’t mean anything.

Richie stretched out his long legs and pulled Eddie’s comforter over them, and stared at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep or focus on anything except for the steady breathing of the boy next to him. Richie kept staring at the ceiling, listening to the clock tick the seconds by.

When Eddie woke up a few hours later, Richie was gone. Eddie sighed, and got up to get ready for school. He was tired, sure, but he really wished Richie would’ve stayed. There was a note on Eddie’s bedside table, a simple ‘Thanks Eds’ scribbled on it in Richie’s handwriting. Eddie appreciated it, sure, but he really wished it said something like ‘Love you, Eds’ or ‘Will you go out with me?’. That’s completely unrealistic though. Right?


End file.
